Life Is Sweet
By Lynn Felder, RYT
One of the best ways to manage our legitimate desire for what is sweet is to look for sweetness with all of our senses — not just our taste buds.
Early winter — approximately Nov. 15-Jan. 15 — is the time to gather and contain: Our energy, our strength, our courage and our love.
Just as there are energetic associations with the seasons, so are there tastes. During this time, we especially crave - and are sustained by - sweetness. Hold on! This doesn't mean eating all the cookies at the office party or making three batches of fudge, gobbling them up and saying, "Oh, it's the taste of the season. I have to do this."
Instead, let's enlarge our definition of sweetness. One of the best ways to manage our legitimate desire for what is sweet is to look for sweetness with all of our senses — not just our taste buds.
What is visually sweet? A sunset, the face of our beloved, dancing bodies (The Nutcracker is coming soon to the Stevens Center, a visual confection if there ever was one), Christmas trees, the lingering autumn leaves. What looks sweet to you? Gather and contain it. To find out more or to order tickets, click on the photo below.
What is aurally sweet? Music, laughter, our friend's voice, rain on the roof, silence. What sounds sweet to you? Gather and contain it.
What has tactile sweetness? That old velvet party dress or a silk shirt, a child's plump cheek, the familiar touch of our yoga mat, a soft blanket, a warm bath, our grandmother's soft hands. What feels sweet to you? Gather and contain it.
What has olfactory sweetness? Peel an orange or grapefruit and take a big whiff, brush against an evergreen, crush some dried herbs between your fingers, burn incense, apply a favorite scent, sniff an essential oil such as lavender or clove, find some late-blooming flowers to smell, or just the damp and leafy earth. What smells sweet to you? Gather and contain it.
What tastes sweet? If we don't constantly overwhelm our tongues with conventional sweets, then we might find sweetness where we don't expect it: sweet potatoes and other root vegetables, fruit, dates, herbal teas like cinnamon or cardamom. What tastes sweet to you? Gather and contain it.
Finding sweetness with our eyes, ears, skin and nose as well as our mouth brings honor to the vast world of creation — and to ourselves.
When we sit to meditate, stand at the front of the mat , or lie in Savasana, we create stillness and space from which to make wiser choices. When we are still, we can actually hear the inner voice that knows we want sweetness — not just sugar.
When you sit in stillness, ask your deepest heart what it is that you need to gather and contain at this time of early winter. Look, listen, feel, smell and taste with more awareness, and rejoice in the abundance of creation.
Copyright by Lynn Felder December 2008. Lynn Felder is an award-winning journalist, a yoga teacher registered with the Yoga Alliance and the author of the DVD “Gentle Yoga for Cancer Patients,” available at www.artsofyoga.com.
You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to lynn@artsofyoga.com and link to www.artsofyoga.com.